This proposal requests funds for a pre-doctoral training program in disease oriented basic neuroscience with an emphasis on aging and age-related neurological disorders. The program is designed to offer M.D./Ph.D. or Ph.D. student's rigorous and specialized training in the neurobiology of aging and age-related neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease and stroke. The Graduate Program in Neuroscience at Rush University is one of the few programs that offers training in disease oriented basic neuroscience; it is housed in the Department of Neurological Sciences, a department where a large number of basic scientists and clinicians work very closely together. Preceptors for the proposed predoctoral training program include nine basic scientists with well funded research programs and a long-standing commitment to aging research; their expertise ranges all the way from molecular and structural biology to electrophysiology and behavior. Additional teaching faculty include other basic scientists and clinicians in the Department of Neurological Sciences, as well as members of other divisions in the Medical Center. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]